Colorado-based Simply Pizza owner and CEO Melinda Carbajal<\/a> agrees, adding that handbooks should be ever-evolving. \u201cI rewrite them all the time,\u201d she says of the business that includes a food truck as well as two (soon to be three) standalone locations.<\/p>\n A lot of stress can be relieved by waiting until your business is financially ready to grow \u2013 even if that means eschewing loans in favor of building a nest egg, Sanford says. When equipment breaks or other problems occur during the build-out phase, you don\u2019t want to be leveraged to the hilt.<\/p>\n Finally, don\u2019t be afraid to start with a small menu and add more dishes gradually. You might find that keeping inventory tight improves profits and serving times. Keep reading to learn how four pizza operators grew into four very different locations \u2013 and what lessons they learned in the process.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Simply Pizza.<\/p><\/div>\n Simply Pizza<\/a> is not monkeying around. After years of operating a food truck and catering business in the Denver metro area, the company is positioned to serve the Denver Zoo\u2019s nearly 2 million annual visitors.<\/p>\n Simply Pizza\u2019s owner and CEO, Melinda Carbajal, credits her partnership with SSA Group \u2013 the culinary architect for aquariums, museums, zoos and other U.S. attractions \u2013 for the opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cThis relationship \u2026 led us to open doors at other facilities where they hold contracts \u2013 the Denver Zoo being one of those opportunities,\u201d Carbajal tells Pizza Today<\/i>.<\/p>\n Having started Simply Pizza out of a converted cargo truck, Carbajal says she felt confident they could operate out of a shipping container at the zoo. Still, she remembers using masking tape to create an outline of the space on the living room floor, imagining how staff would navigate cold and dry storage, a prep station, dough sheeter, wood-fired pizza oven and guest counter. Simply Pizza already operates from the outdoor patio at a neighborhood brewery, so the company has experience outfitting a shipping container to serve as a pizzeria.<\/p>\n \u201cTailoring our operation for each audience is something we exceed at in the zoo and at the brewery because of the truck,\u201d Carbajal says. \u201cThe brewery is where we get to be creative and test out new items. \u2026 If we have an item that works, we come up with a scale-up plan and push it to the zoo.\u201d<\/p>\n While Simply Pizza\u2019s zoo location has a curtailed menu, the operation pivots during the holiday season to capitalize on Zoo Lights \u2013 a seasonal event where nighttime visitors see animal exhibits draped in Christmas lights. \u201cIn the month of December, we really become a giant, wood-fired cookie shop,\u201d Carbajal says.<\/p>\n During the summer, the zoo kiosk offers strawberry-and-cream cups, which Carbajal says are simple to prepare and appeal to customers between mealtimes.<\/p>\n Other concerns specific to the zoo operation include lack of staff parking and at-will food deliveries in addition to zoo-specific training. (There is protocol for dealing with animals who have escaped their enclosures, for example.)<\/p>\n Since Simply Pizza\u2019s contract is with SSA Group rather than the zoo, communication can be tricky, but Carbajal calls operating at the zoo \u201ca dream.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis trifecta at the zoo is something I’m really proud of,\u201d she says. \u201cThe little guy brings a different touch to the operation, and the big guy facilitates and nurtures that entity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photo Courtesy of Mikey’s Late Night Slice.<\/p><\/div>\n During fourth-quarter 2024, Columbus, Ohio-based Mikey\u2019s Late Night Slice<\/a> opened a new storefront each month. One of those spots \u2013 located on The Ohio State University campus \u2013 was a ground-up build with prime access to the university\u2019s 66,000 students.<\/p>\n \u201cThis just happened to be a new building right in the center of the Ohio State campus,\u201d says Mikey Sorboro, who launched Mikey\u2019s Late Night Slice from his apartment complex in 2009. \u201cWe were one of the last tenants in that development, so we essentially took the last good space.\u201d<\/p>\n With nine locations currently operating and two underway, Sorboro and his team are well-versed in launching new pizzerias. Building at the university, however, came with new challenges. The university required specific materials, which used advanced technology and had commensurate price tags.<\/p>\n The number of people on campus during Christmas break, spring break and summer semester can be a blow to business at the university location, so management rotates workers to busier spots during slow times. Ahead of the fall 2025 semester, Sorboro expects the team to grow by 50 percent.<\/p>\n Unlike many pizzerias, where the kitchen closes at 9 p.m., all Late Night Slice locations are open until at least midnight, and the Ohio State campus location stays open until 3 a.m. to cater to student night owls.<\/p>\n Knowing that the dining area would be frequented by co-eds of questionable sobriety, Sorboro says, \u201cWe needed to make everything very durable.\u201d Most of the high-tops are solid wood paired with steel barstools.<\/p>\n \u201cThe experience of going to one of our shops is very Instagramable. Everything is really meant to be eye candy in our restaurant,\u201d Sorboro says, pointing to two long tables that have swings for seats.<\/p>\n The unprecedented growth of Mikey\u2019s Late Night Slice in Q4 2024 was no accident. Now, the regional chain has plans to expand beyond the Columbus area \u2013 but not too far.<\/p>\n Customers who grew up going to Mikey\u2019s Late Night Slice after a night out are now in the suburbs, Sorboro says, and some of their kids might even be patronizing the university location<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of their parents grew up with us. Now, we meet them in college, and we\u2019re going to follow them through our traditional locations in the business district and are now making a concentrated effort to look at the suburbs to follow our guest life cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Toss & Fire.<\/p><\/div>\n The owners of Harvey\u2019s Garden \u2013 an indoor beer garden in Syracuse, New York \u2013 tried running their own concessions for about a year before approaching Toss & Fire pizzeria about taking over the space. Thirty days later, Toss & Fire<\/a> opened its third standalone location \u2013 one fixed in place but designed to resemble a food truck.<\/p>\n \u201cI like second-generation spaces so that I\u2019m not building out restaurants from absolutely nothing, because that gets insanely expensive,\u201d owner Nick Sanford tells Pizza Today<\/i>. \u201cWe took over their existing kitchen, expanded it forward and put the food truck fa\u00e7ade up front.\u201d<\/p>\n Toss & Fire helps the beer garden by having a constant food option, while the beer hall aids the pizzeria by selling beverages. \u201cWe\u2019re basically two separate businesses operating in one area,\u201d Sanford says.<\/p>\n He admits the Harvey\u2019s Garden location was easier to bring to fruition than the first and second Toss & Fire sites. \u201cI knew the city required a fan on top of the chimney, so I already knew what the part was, where to get it and who could install it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Due to frigid winter weather, Syracuse has a limited food truck season, which frees up Toss & Fire<\/span>\u2019s mobile staff for the <\/span>Harvey\u2019s Garden site. \u201cWe take a lot of our strong people to get everybody up to speed,\u201d Sanford says.<\/span><\/p>\n A year and a half into the new business, the pizzeria can operate with three to six employees, depending on foot traffic. Since opening the Harvey\u2019s Garden location, Toss & Fire has expanded its hours to meet demand.<\/p>\n Customers also can rent out the space for parties and corporate events, for which Toss & Fire provides catering.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a commissary that\u2019s three minutes from the Harvey\u2019s Garden location. It has a full kitchen and storage,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Due to the small space, Sanford keeps inventory tight at Harvey\u2019s Garden, and he says the small menu has proved to be such a boon to profits that he\u2019s trimmed the menus at Toss & Fire\u2019s other properties as well.<\/p>\n Sanford recommends other pizzerias considering such a partnership get systems in place before attempting to open a new location.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been in business for 10 years now, but this past year, we finally put in place schematics of exactly what a pizza should look like when it comes out of the oven \u2013 step-by-steps, because it is so easy for things to get lost in translation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Slice House.<\/p><\/div>\n For the first several years, Tony Gemignani\u2019s Slice House<\/a> sought franchisees to establish new stores near California and Nevada, where the pizzaiolo operates Capo\u2019s, Pizza Rock and Tony\u2019s Pizza Napoletana<\/a>. This spring, a new franchisee opened the first location east of Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n Together with a franchisee, Slice House opened its doors in downtown Franklin, Tennessee, in April 2025, marking the first of 11 locations that eventually will serve the state.<\/span><\/p>\n Slice House works with Prime Site, a real estate platform that provides data-based suggestions about where businesses are most likely to find success based on demographic, geographic and psychographic data.<\/p>\n The pizza franchise selects new locations based on a mix of Prime Site\u2019s quantitative data and franchisees\u2019 qualitative insights about proposed areas.<\/p>\n The first Tennessee location is in downtown Franklin\u2019s historic district, which means Slice House was restricted in modifications to the building exterior, including signage. \u201cOther than that, the interior is all built to our stack,\u201d Slice House Managing Member Trevor Hewitt tells Pizza Today<\/i>. \u201cIn most cases, everything is standardized, but we allow for a little bit of regional variety, and we also try to be reasonable when it comes to cost-benefit analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n When the first Slice House location opened in 2016, the 900-square-foot location was intended to be a one-off store. But over time, management concluded 1,800-2,500-square-foot locations perform best. \u201cA larger front-of-house for seating \u2013 instead of it being just a counter \u2013 increases customer satisfaction, increases revenue,\u201d Hewitt says.<\/p>\n First-time franchisees are required to have 250 hours of training \u2013 or 50 hours per week for five weeks. The required training drops by one week with each subsequent location until franchisees hit one week per store. By that point, Hewitt says, the franchisee is well-equipped to train new staff themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spent a good part of 2023, 2024 and even now \u2013 into 2025 \u2013 building out our team to support multiple location openings at once, to be able to send our training team and our operations team to further locations outside the West,\u201d Hewitt says.<\/p>\n When finalizing property, Slice House insists leases are at least as long as the franchise agreement. Ten-year leases with an option to renew for five years are preferred.<\/p>\n KATE LAVIN<\/b><\/span>\u00a0is Senior Editor at\u00a0Pizza Today.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n
\n![\"Simply](\"https:\/\/pizzatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SimplyPizzalocation.jpeg\")
Company: Simply Pizza<\/h3>\n
Location: Denver Zoo \u2014 Denver, Colorado<\/h3>\n
Opened: May 2023<\/h3>\n
\n![\"Mikey's](\"https:\/\/pizzatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MikeysLateNightSliceLocation.jpg\")
Company: Mikey\u2019s Late Night Slice<\/h3>\n
New Location: Ohio State University Main Campus \u2014 Columbus, Ohio<\/h3>\n
Opened: October 2024<\/h3>\n
\n![\"Toss](\"https:\/\/pizzatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/tossnfireLocation.jpg\")
Company: Toss & Fire<\/h3>\n
New Location: Harvey\u2019s Garden \u2013 Syracuse, New York<\/h3>\n
OpenEd: January 2024<\/h3>\n
\n![\"Slice](\"https:\/\/pizzatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SliceHouseLocation.jpg\")
Company: Slice House<\/h3>\n
New Location: Franklin, Tennessee<\/h3>\n
Opened: April 2025<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pizzatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/FC_PIZ_0925_CoverSpine-218x300.jpg\")
Read the September 2025 Issue of Pizza Today Magazine<\/h4>\n